Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies.Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

The Spring of 2010 Has Sprung

The spring of 2010 is ready to begin…finally!Pitchers and catchers officially report in about 12 hours but some dedicated Phillies are already in Clearwater and raring to go.

Lefty JC Romero is optimistic about his recovery from surgery and says his goal is to be ready for Opening Day.Previous reports were closer to May, so this is very good news for the bullpen!And one of the newest Phillies, Roy Halladay, has been at camp for weeks already getting ready to impress his new teammates.This is great news!However, if I hear one more media member call Roy a “horse,” I think I may lapse into a coma.During my coma, here are the visions that will dance through my head:

In other pitching news, Brad Lidge spoke to the media today and no one called him a horse.Awesome.While Lidge does seem raring to go, he made the following comment which made me scratch my head a bit: “I’ll never put myself on the DL,” he said. “If they pull me out of there and say, ‘You can’t do it,’ that’s one thing. If I can physically go out there, I’m going to. That’s not a decision that I feel like I need to make.”

Clearly, Lidge pitched injured through a lot of 2009 and that decision hurt the team.This quote seems to imply he will do the same this year unless someone else stops him.Is pitching hurt really a good thing?According to the 2009 results, no, not so much.While you have to admire the tough-guy mentality, there comes a time where it is a detriment to the team.The coaching staff should keep a close eye on him this year.

Getting away from pitching for a moment, reports are also coming in about Chase Utley and his renewed physique.After looking a bit run down at the end of last year, it appears that Utley has spent a good deal of this off-season getting into better shape.He also arrived to camp early, sporting a more “buff” look:

Then we have all of the Placido Polanco chatter; will he make the adjustment from second to third base successfully?And how long will that adjustment take?Can Polly play second base once and a while so Utley can rest his newly gigantic pecks and give Greg Dobbs the occasional shot at third?No worries folks, Polly is flexible.He can do it!

And if third base does not work out, Polanco has a new career waiting for him in the circus ;o)

We will hear all this drama and more in the coming weeks as camp unfolds.Good luck in Clearwater everyone!

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8 Comments

Jenn, your pictures are absolutely priceless! And I know what you mean about Halladay being called a horse ad nauseum. The same thing happens with CC. (Full disclosure: I’ve been guilty of it myself.) Will you be at the 3/17 game against the Yanks? If so, I’l see you there.

Jenn,
I was talking to a friend of mine who is on the Toronto staff and he told me Roy Halladay is one of the most prepared people in baseball. He not only studies films, but has his own little notebook and file on hitters and what they have hit off him.
Kind of make you smile more knowing this guy is coming into Philly in the best shape of his life, and more prepared than most guys who hit a new city.
Worst part is he will have to relpy on other people’s books on hitters for a bit until he gets some personal information he can write in his book on the NL sluggers.

Jane – Thanks! And no, sadly, I cannot go this year :O( No money plus I wound up with Jury Duty for the whole month of March! Go figure. Hope you have a great time though and I look forward to hearing your report :O)
Cliff – I am sure the other guys will help Roy fill in his NL Book too :O) Can’t wait to see him pitch!

Jenn, you couldn’t come up with a creative way to get out of jury duty? :-) Anyway, the “horse” thing always drives me nuts too. Why “horse”? Are horses harder working than other animals? And unfortunately it always conjures up other meanings in my mind as well. ;-)
SueRants, Raves, and Random Thoughts

Jen,
Halladay has been at camp for weeks!!? He is a ….oh never mind ;-)
I love your write-ups and your way with pictures!
.
I actually like going to Jury Duty. the short days, being closer to the stadium. It is just the deliberating that leaves me a little drain but overall I like seeing how the system works. So you get paid for a month of JD? We only get paid for two weeks.
Emmahttp://crzblue.mlblogs.com/http://DodgersBlueBlog.com/

Sue – Sadly no…my boss is going too so there was no way out! Yes, the exact same jury….go figure.
Jeff – I hope so too!!
Emma – I work for the state so luckily, they have to pay me all 4 weeks :O) I remember years ago when I worked for another place, they did not give me my full salary and that really sucked, so at least I don’t have to worry about that this time.

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